A group of 28 investigators from 10 African countries attended the training which was held with the aim of enhancing their capacities in overcoming emerging crimes committed through the use of cyber technology. It was organised by Rwanda National Police (RNP) in partnership with Interpol.

Expert trainers were drawn from Trend Micro, a security software company with its global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Participants came from anti-cyber crime units in Botswana, Central Africa Republic, Gabon, The Gambia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Cyprien Gatete, commissioner for training, research and development at RNP, called the training a value addition to African law enforcement agencies as they share experiences and get access to common forensic tools that will help them work efficiently.

Louis Kwan, the digital crime officer at Interpol Digital Crime Centre in Singapore, noted that due to the transnational nature of cyber crime, and the lack of Internet governance and reliable attribution mechanisms, law enforcement agencies are better off working together to overcome cyber crime.

“So far, many countries have created dedicated cybercrime investigation units, with the hope to fight cybercrime more effectively. However, there is often a skill shortage among police forces in investigative skills and digital forensics. This skills gap is always covered when nations work together,” said Kwan.

In March this year, the government of Rwanda approved the National Cyber Security Policy which aims at protecting public and private infrastructure from cyber attacks and to safeguard personal information of web users. The government also established a National Computer Security Incident Response Centre to monitor cyber security.

RNP has a partnership with Interpol to fight the vice and trace perpetrators of cyber crimes.